Solving the internet gridlock : daily-cardinal

Solving the Internet gridlock : Daily-cardinal Web Search powered by Y A HO O ! SEA RC H Solving the Internet gridlock November 13, 2008 12:00 am • During high school, my home computer was so mind-numbingly slow that I would click on AOL, go downstairs, make a sandwich, eat it and return just as it asked me to log in. I did this until I could no longer stomach the thought of using it again and bought a Mac. Less than two years later, my new computer feels just as slow. The problem isn't my computer though; it's me. Read us in print
As computer programs evolve and students carry out more complicated tasks like editing movies, burning CDs and producing music, computers are struggling to run these operations without slowing down. This dilemma especialy affects scientists who rely heavily on computing. The Large Hadron Colider (LHC), for example, as the world's largest particle accelerator, wil require bilions of calculations in order to effectively interpret and store its results next year. However, to perform these types of experiments, scientists need computers to process, record and analyze astronomical amounts of data. W ithout purchasing milions of dolars worth of computer equipment, this would require more than what modern technology has to offer. Enter The Grid,"" an experimental form of computer technology over 30 years in the making. ""Grid computing"" employs the Internet to link computers together and share the work, accomplishing more tasks, faster. W ith software developed by UW -Madison scientists, the Grid not only promises to solve the data crisis but revolutionize the way we conduct science. W hat is the Grid? What we're Tweeting
""W hat people cal the Grid, I view as more of a movement than a technology or a thing,"" said Miron Restaurant employee Livny, UW -Madison professor of computer sciences. chases, detains thief before policearrest two for robbery A downtown alder's take ""W hat we're doing is using the Internet to create more sophisticated services,"" Livny said. ""You on letter from Madison police cancelingMifflin: submit your jobs here and through the Internet we can find other places to run your jobs."" North Park Street closureextends, Walnut Street to close Solving the Internet gridlock : Daily-cardinal The Grid is not a computer, but how scientists are connecting computers together to form a web, or a ""grid."" Democratic statelegislators announced a bill that would shift redistricting authority to a non- Once these computers are connected, they share resources which improves speed and processing power. This connection alows information to be more readily accessible and increases the amount of tasks that can be performed. Subscribe to th
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It's a lot like building a house. The more people who lend a hand, the faster it gets done. By not linking computers together, they sit idle, wasting energy and not contributing to anything. Weekly (1 Semester) $100.00 ""Some might argue, 'You should turn off that computer if you're not using it.' I say you got a lot of energy that was spent making that machine, you want to use it for al it's worth,"" Ken Hahn, systems administrator of the Grid, said. Video: Wisconsin News
W ith many projects hungry to utilize the processing power of the Grid, it can be a hassle to figure out which ones have the greatest priority. To decide who has precedence, UW programmers have developed a program caled CONDOR that serves to alocate tasks. The CONDOR Project, led by Livny, has been in development for 25 years on campus and employs 20 programmers to help update and maintain the software. Al of the money to run CONDOR comes from federal funding, just like the Internet when it was being Enrol the same child in both Session A & B ""W isconsin is in the spotlight for science and computers and I think the University gets a lot of points for it,"" UW -Madison physics professor Bruce Melado said. ""Our participation in this project helps establish the department and creates higher standards."" Waunakee Houses For Sale: CONDOR is an open-source program, meaning anyone can download it for free and implement it however they choose. Al this data is sent back to UW programmers who look at how their Get 6 weeks of Classes and a uniform for $69 program is being put into action. ""Everyone wants to know how other people are using CONDOR for their project and we want to hear what they need that we don't do,"" Hahn said. Scientists working on the Grid also provide students with the opportunity to get involved with the ""Besides just professors, we have a number of graduate students who come up with smal projects through their own research, and we apply it to CONDOR; so there's research as wel as development,"" Hahn said. Solving the Internet gridlock : Daily-cardinal Because CONDOR is a UW -Madison based program, students involved with the project are on the cutting-edge of technological development. Mengmeng Chen is one of these graduate students and assists Hahn in monitoring the Grid. ""W orking here is great because you're doing something no one else in the world is doing,"" Chen W ho is using it? Currently, the new particle accelerator - the LHC - is operating under a section of the Grid, located in the Computer Sciences building on Dayton Street, to calculate and store data from the particle The UW physics department has strong involvement in the particle accelerator's two main experiments: CMS and ATLAS. Both experiments have developed large Grid facilities on campus.
W hen CMS and ATLAS aren't taking up al the Grid's resources, other departments on campus can utilize their section of it or use the UW 's own version of the Grid. The main departments whose projects run on the Grid are computer science, physics, chemical engineering, medical physics and biotechnology. ""Physics has become very needy in terms of computer resource,"" Melado said. ""W e basicaly have to harness huge amounts of CPU on disks."" Businesses are also jumping at the prospect of grid computing. Many have begun building grids for their own advanced computations or to rent them out to businesses whose computing needs have exceeded their means. ""Now Microsoft and IBM are saying, 'W e wil create, for you, computing capacity where you can come use our computers to run your projects,'"" Livny said. ""If you think of the services you're getting, such as Google running your calendar, they run it in a distribut-ed environment. Amazon already has a service where you can run computing data there for you, too."" According to Oracle, a database company, major companies such as Hewlett-Packard and insurance giant Hartford Life have gotten into grid computing as wel. ""Businesses are using it internaly,"" Livny said. ""If you're looking at what we have on the campus, we have 5,000 computers that we share between different groups. There are a lot of companies out there that are now doing it within their own company."" As our personal computing needs increase, grid computing may work its way from strictly businesses and universities into our home. Solving the Internet gridlock : Daily-cardinal ""If you wake up in the morning and need to run a complex simulation or you need to do risk analysis of your portfolio . your computing needs are more than what you have on your desk,"" Livny said. The future of home grid computing seems hazy, however, as the average family does not need to run complex calculations like many physicists and companies do. ""W il people need more computing? I don't know,"" Livny said. ""Science definitely needs it today and I would say that science has been a very good predictor of what people and businesses need.
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